Yep... last night it happened, my best shave ever. Period. End of sentence. Better than any Slant/Feather shave I've had in the past. Closer and less irritation. Best part was that it was with a 5/8" Wapienica that I honed myself.

A few weeks back I screwed up my Lynn honed Bismarck and was without a honing benchmark. I was getting nowhere with the Norton 4K/8K. So I abandoned that and went straight to the coticule with the Wapienica (I didn't want to do further honing injustices). In a few minutes it was starting to pop hairs off my arm. I kept at it and kept getting better and better results. Stropped and shaved and it was brilliant. Even ATG. Since this, I'm working the Bismarck on the coticule and it's coming along, albeit more slowly than the Wapienica. There's hope for me yet.

Sorry about the long post but my wife, although VERY pleased with the results, is sick of hearing about it.